Mortgage freedom..Shala_moo's attempt at a diary..

A question about : Mortgage freedom..Shala_moo's attempt at a diary..

Hi everyone..

I love to read everyone's diaries but i don't get to post much as I get easily distracted by links to other diaries/websites/adverts and lose myself in the weird world of the interweb..

I've decided I need to keep myself on track as we are about to take on a larger mortgage, moving to our dream house, and that scares me somewhat.. I also don't want to be still paying a mortgage when i'm 65 and relaxing on a cruise ship somewhere sipping Pina Colada's (here's hoping )

So a little bit about me (us? hubby doesn't actually know i'm doing this )

I love spreadsheets, i love numbers, i'm a geek and now because of Pammyj74 i have an excel version of my house that I am colouring in when i've paid off a certain amount... thanks Pammy!!

I'm 35, have only ever owned one house and extended the mortgage over certain periods of time so i now, after 10 years, STILL owe the bank what I paid for the house back in 2001 have had my LBM a few years back and i'm determined not to be left with mortgages when i'm retiring...

Between myself and OH we have 3 mortgages..

Mortgage 1 - my house - waiting to be sold or rented

Mortgage Ј72,818.25 @ 3.49%
Home loan Ј16,499.02 @ 3.49% (taken out to help my dad buy a house whilst he sold his old house, now sold and i have the money sitting in the bank)

Can only overpay this mortgage by Ј90 a month

Equity - Ј40,000

Mortgage 2 - new joint house (moving in 4-5 weeks when building work is completed)

Mortgage Ј166,050 @3.99% fixed for 3 years
Family loan - Ј60,000 @ 0% - will pay this off once house 1 is sold

Can overpay by 10% a year.. i'm not sure that will happen but stranger things have happened

Mortgage 3 - OH's parents house

This was taken out as OH's parents couldn't get a mortgage, at the time OH didn't have a mortgage so we helped them out by putting his name down on the deeds and the mortgage paperwork. Obviously at some point this could fall to us to pay but it's only Ј200 a month.. fingers crossed we'll never need to step in..

Savings

Ј27,000 - part of this is the money to pay back the home loan and also money to pay back the family loan once house 1 is sold so i'm not to touch it for pretty new things for my new house!!

I also have a savings account which has Ј1000 in it and i'm part of the share save scheme at work so i also have savings stashed there. If i'm desparate for money i can close either one of them to get access to it.

Ohh that was a lot of rambling weren't it.. as i read it back it seems very complicated but the upshot of it is that, at the moment, i owe over Ј300K *gulp* and my assets are about Ј350K...

Jeez guess who might not be sleeping very soundly tonight... i'm very risk adverse!

Anyway if you're still with me then thanks for reading...

Best answers:

• 1 - sell my house (could look at changing it to a buy-to-let and renting but not sure i'm that much of a risk taker)
  2 - make extra money on surveys and clicky things
  3 - register with council to start little side business of selling novelty cakes/baking (will do this at new house - currently only bake for friends and family)
  4 - start shopping at Home Bargains, Farm Foods, Lidl etc - i do this already a bit but it can be increased
  5 - pay off 0% credit card that has new purchases on it (about Ј3000 for dining table, fridge and cooker and other bits for new house)
  6 - pay off Sofa - from DFS so 12 months free, then monthly payments of Ј31.18/month
• Welcome MFW, Shala Moo, I look forward to reading your diary and watching how you sort out your complex finances!
  Good luck selling your house, it seems to be a very slow market at the moment, and I am profoundly grateful I'm not looking at selling at the moment
• I have to agree with you Sepa74 - not a good time at all, but houses which are sensibly priced are selling, so that's a good thing. Shala_moo have you had much interest in your house being sold/rented? Has it been on the market long? It sounds to me that your life will get a lot easier when property 1 is sold, but at the moment knowing you owe so much in theory can't be good for the blood pressure, you're right!
  We went down the route of btl on MOM's house when we got married - it was the only thing to do at the time, and it's not really made us much money/any really in 3 years, as things keep on going wrong with it! We didn't intend to make money out of it, but hoped for some profit; however we're now in a position where values are dropping but the tenant is happy (soon to sign in for 3 years!) so we have to think long term on that - maybe in 10 years time we could sell, but we certainly haven't found it to be an easy money making scheme...
  All the best, and be sure to keep us updated!
• Thanks for dropping by Sepa74 and originalmiscellany...
  To answer your questions,
  The house has been on the market for around 2 months, had two viewings. The houses around here are selling ok to be honest and in the last few weeks there seems to have been a rush of people putting their houses up for sale... even though i think it's completely the wrong time of year!! We've had a house sell on my street in the last week and my dad's sold in the summer in just 6 weeks... so i just have to have my fingers crossed.
  I'm not under any illusion that selling it is a sure thing which is why my back up plan includes maybe renting it out.. for the long term.. it's something we've talked about doing for a while but we're just too chicken to take the first step..
  I am also prepared to drop my price - i knew going into this that being Ј10k over stamp duty threshold may put people off so this may have to be reviewed soon..
  It's a scarey prospect but i've never taken a risk in all of my life and this time just felt like it was time to try it... lets see if i regret it in 6 months Can't wait for my easy life when i have one mortgage to worry about..
• Good luck with the house selling - sounds like it might be a good idea to drop the price especially if that takes it out of stamp duty.
• Or another way of looking at it is that you could keep it at the current price, but use the 'willing to consider dropping under stamp duty level' if you have a positive viewing & subsequent offer or talk of an offer. If a house was Ј10k over the stamp duty threshold in the current housing market climate, it wouldn't stop me viewing it as I would be secretly thinking/hoping I could put in a low offer. I'm all talk btw, I probably wouldn't dare do that myself, but I know lots of people who would!!
  Anyway, good luck with your MFW journey & hope you manage to sell soon, keep us posted
• hi all..
  Poppy that's the way i was seeing it.. i would only offer Ј125K on a Ј135k property too (we did last yr on a house for my father) so i was hoping someone else would do the same. I think Estate agents always price too high these days because they know most people will come in with low offers..
  Extra income this week (so far)
  - worked 8 hours overtime last week that will come through in my November pay.
  - Ipsos - ordered a Ј10 amazon voucher to go towards presents
  - joined Panel base and Mccains Spud shillings
  - 3 cakes ordered this week (not much profit at all really probably about Ј20)
  Things to do
  - finish the other two cakes
  - catch up with Toluna and other surveys
  - go to the new Lidl by us to see what cheaper xmas goodies i can stash away.. stollen mmmmm
  So still plodding on - still waiting on the mortgage people to pull their fingers out and let us arrange an exchange date for the new house.. it's very frustrating sometimes..
  Although *very excited* we've signed off the final design for our new kitchen and i love it.. can't wait to see it actually in place!! I have stuck the drawings on our fridge so I can gaze at it longingly whilst i'm making our tea!
• Well bit of an odd day today... didn't go into work as I had to pop to the hospital to have a few tests (for a minor op)
  spent some of it chasing solicitors/building people to try and sort out an exchange date for the new house.. why is it that everyone sits on paperwork that needs signing until we ring up and ask for updates..
  also popped to Lidl to see what was there.. picked up a Stollen, choc gingerbread and choc marzipan bars for xmas.. unfortunately one marzipan bar hasn't made it to the end of the day
  Yesterday I started my christmas hamper preparations - soaking fruit for cakes, bought onions to pickle and onions to make into chutney I'll also be making whiskey marmalade, chilli jam and possibly some sweeties. I usually do these hampers for my aunty, sister, MIL and B/SIL. I then buy a cheapy present to go with the hamper.
  I'm pretty lucky at Xmas, the only people i have to buy for are the above and OH, Dad, 2 cousins and a close friend, so my list isn't extensive. I'm in awe of people who buy for loads of children and adults at xmas.. i wouldnt have the money or the patience to think of what to buy everyone
  Shall I stop talking about xmas?? it's only October Sorry....
  Money making today -
  sold a cake - Ј20 (cherry madeira mmmmmmm)
  Caught up with surveys
  Booked to have a water meter fitted next week
  45 mins of overtime y'day
  cashed a cheque for a wedding cake deposit - Ј50
  When our mortgage starts I will be posting some figures and analysis to spur me onto further savings.. at the moment any extra money i am making i am putting into my savings account ready to either pay off the credit card or against the mortgage once it's started..
• Hello, I have just spotted your diary
  Quite a lot to pay off, fingers crossed you can sell quickly. It seems like you have a plan, and you will find find lots of support on the mfw board. My DH knows I come on here but has never really looked at my diary or shown a big interest in the ins and outs of it.
  If you get the chance have a look at the oldstyle boards as there is so much good advice on there and its nice to know there are others around who appreciate the effort that goes into moneysaving and paying off what you owe.
  Best of luck with your new mf adventure!
• Hi Newgirly..
  Funnily enough i'm just at page 9 of your diary (i have to read threads from the beginning!) so i've a way to catch up yet!
  Thanks for popping by with suggestions.. i've already lurked on the OS boards a while ago but i must admit i've slipped a lot with OS the last few months Definitely need to look at reducing my grocery budget again as this has been creeping up.. and stop the takeaways !! D*mn Domin0es for opening a new store up the road..
  I have actually stumbled across Weezl's Cheap Family Recipes thread again this afternoon so i'll have to steal some ideas from there..
  off to carry on reading your diary
• Reading my diary may be a good way of nodding off at bedtime, not sure what else though.
  Weezls cheap receipes thing is good , but to be honest I have only made the scotch pancakes (rejected by the whole family) and the bean curry which is v. cheap and I really liked it.
• Thought i'd add some figures to the thread just so i have something to compare to in say 12 months time.. i know they'll be wildly different as we are taking on a new mortgage but i don't feel right having a MFW thread and not putting mortgage details on.
  I also started recording my mortgage pymts etc last year so i have yearly figures to compare from then... so my position as I stand right now is...
  Mortgage & equity loan
  Oct 2010
  Total Ј92,029.39 @ 3.49%
  Daily Interest Ј8.80
  Monthly payment Ј472.38
  Savings Ј1,000.00
  Owed back from family Ј17,000.00
  Total debt Ј74,029.39
  Oct 2011
  Total outstanding Ј89,317.27 (Ј2712.12 decrease)
  Daily Interest Ј8.52 (0.28p decrease)
  Monthly payment Ј472.38
  Savings Ј23,669.73
  Total debt Ј 65,647.54
  So technically i've managed to wipe out over Ј8K in debt this year... Have i added that up right?
  Obviously any savings i've made will now go to paying solicitors and building people (and a new sofa and dining table) but at least i had them for a short while!!
  Money making/saving today
  - surveys
  - had 10p off litre of petrol voucher at Sainsbugs - Ј4 saving
  - dyed my own hair - Ј50 saving
  - present bought from Amazon using Ј4 voucher - usually spend Ј30-40 on this person but just spent Ј15 less voucher instead, the present was still appreciated
• Evening...
  Quick post before i get tea on and watch X-Factor.. I know it's rubbish but you have to watch it don'tcha
  I've just finished my last novelty cake for the foreseeable future, i'm looking forward to the rest for a bit! I don't mind the baking but I'm not even really a cakey person - i'd much rather have a packet of crisps (although i do have to taste test every cake i make obviously ) it's doing no good for the size of my belly anyway.. but i've made a bit of profit so i can't moan.
  Not particularly money saving but we're going away Monday night with a Gr0upon voucher that I bought OH back in May for his birthday.. Basically we get a stay at a hotel, free lunch with wine and a breakfast so not too bad for Ј56. I've also got Ј30 in Strada vouchers for the next days lunch/dinner so hopefully a minimal spend trip and it'll take us away from the stress of the house move.
  Today's job was making an inventory of the freezers so i can start planning some meals around the food we have, rather than just going and buying new stuff all the time. We've also got to defrost one of them for the move so this will help. So far, i've got a list of 18 meals we can make and more stuff left to allocate to meals!!
  Next job - the cupboards!
  We're having pasta bake for dinner.. i'm trying a tip that i picked up off one of the boards. I've put the pasta in a pan and poured boiling water over it, i've then left it to absorb the water for a while. In theory it shouldn't need boiling as long now, so saving on gas. I'm also using my remoska to bake it in so saving on electricity too (the left overs will be tomorrows lunch so more money saving!) i'm on a roll...
  hope everyone's enjoying the weekend x
• Oh my goodness, I bet you just made every italian who was ever born and passed away roll in their graves.
  I wonder if the seismometers in Europe are registering a series of spooky earthquakes?!
• Hi Sepa74.. i apologise to the Italians..
  Trust me i won't be doing it again.. i'm not sure where i read it but i don't ever recommend anyone doing it.
  It was nasty i can't even describe the texture of the pasta but it wasn't normal...
  i'll stick to the usual way i think, but sometimes you just have to try stuff
• Well the night away didn't go quite to plan.. i won't say where i went incase i offend anyone with any negativity, but the town was a little bit disappointing so we only went to visit for a few hours and then went back to the hotel bar.. but the hotel was lovely, meals were fab and the atmosphere/ambience was very warm and inviting (i imagine with snow on the ground and a roaring log fire it would be almost magical!)
  Our spends for the weekend/day out...
  Ј50 on a throw and 3 cushions (for new house)
  Ј12 on diamante candles for Xmas pressie - i love these but more importantly I've started my xmas present shopping
  Ј12 piping nozzles
  Ј44 Boots - my pressie from OH for xmas
  Ј13 ish on 3 pints and a coke
  Ј10 Subway - we didn't get to go to Strada - will pass on my vouchers to my sister
  Came back and spent Ј75 on food shopping for the week - we spend this most weeks but i don't smoke or drink so food is like my treat i guess (hence the reason i'm now trying to go on a diet)
  Will be getting paid in the next few days so i will transfer the remaining balance in my current account to my savings pot (after i've seen whether i can get some Westlife tickets.. i know... my OH regularly tells me i have no music taste!)
  We're still battling to get an exchange date for the new house... we've rang a few people and complained but unless we ring everyday it's like hitting your head up a brick wall i think that may be preferable at the moment.
  I think i'm finding it most frustrating because i want to start paying down the mortgage! I told OH last night that i would like to try and get under Ј100K in the next five years..
• Hi shala_moo...welcome to the MFW board. It looks like you have a sensible plan to repay your mortgages and though you have 3, it isn't really 3 is it - so not as scary as it looks! I am really interested in your cake making business - my husband is a chef and our new house has a massive kitchen so I was toying with the idea of helping him set up some kind of business - but I've heard it's very investment heavy with insurance costs and things. Would love to hear more about your business. Good luck with the OPs - I will follow your jourey with interest.
• Hi Mouche... thanks for dropping on by..
  How lovely to have a massive kitchen already - i can't wait for ours... i only have the computer drawings at the minute
  I only bake for friends and family at the moment (work colleagues mainly) so i dont make any money on it really, just building up a portfolio etc.. i think i'm allowed to bake 4/5 times a month without having to be registered with the council. I pick up all my info from cakecentral.com - its an American forum but there is a Uk bakers thread on it. The ladies on there are very helpful and some have their own businesses already... i don't think i'll ever be able to do it as a full time business it just wouldn't get me enough income...